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Commander Brutus
Commander Brutus is a character that appears in the Sonic the Comic series published by Fleetway Editions. He was a unique and exceedingly powerful Trooper Badnik, who was elected and upgraded by Dr. Ivo Robotnik to be his second-in-command. However, Brutus longed for power himself and tried to overthrow Robotnik and seize his empire, only to get destroyed by the doctor himself. History Seeking to create for himself a second-in-command, Dr. Robotnik selected Brutus, formerly a Trooper in the Special Badnik Service (SBS),''Sonic the Comic'' #65, "Project Brutus, Part 3" to be programmed with a copy of his brainwaves, in order to create the ultimate trooper.''Sonic the Comic'' #63, "Project Brutus, Part 1" It's unclear what reconstructions and modifications his armor and appearance may have undergone before being programming as such, but when programmed, his armour was stated to be constructed of the near-invincible Mobian metal, Megatal, and was a golden color (in contrast to the typical red Trooper color). For flair, he wore a red cape. Brutus was also outfitted with an anti-gravity unit, but it is specifically noted that he possessed this before being programmed with Robotnik's brainwaves. Operating as Robotnik's second-in-command, it was not long before Brutus confronted Sonic the Hedgehog in the Pleasant Zone, and proved to be more than the hedgehog and his allies could handle, capturing them and clapping them in chains before marching them through town.''Sonic the Comic'' #64, "Project Brutus, Part 2" As things looked like they were all over, Sonic transformed into Super Sonic, and proved to be more than a match for Brutus. As a last resort, Brutus used Amy Rose as a human shield, but Sonic was no longer himself and pressed his attack, something that Brutus didn't notice until the last second; Super ripped off Brutus' arm, nearly killing Amy in the process. Brutus was forced to order a retreat, and then suffered a reprimand from Doctor Robotnik, as he had embarked on the mission, without Robotnik's permission. However, Robotnik had failed to realize that, when he copied his brain patterns into Brutus, he had transferred both his personality and his ambitions to the robot - and now Brutus sought to take over Mobius for himself.''Sonic the Comic'' #66, "Project Brutus, Part 4" . Art by Nigel Kitching.]] With his shattered arm replaced with a new one that doubled as a powerful energy weapon, and operating in secret out of a base in the Misery Zone, Brutus set about capturing Mobians to be converted into badniks for his own private army. His first attempts met with interference from Johnny Lightfoot, Brutus downloading a copy of Johnny's mind to learn the Freedom Fighters' secrets but forced to delete it when Johnny's good nature drove him to turn against his own forces.''Sonic the Comic'' #69 to #72, "Brute Force" Despite this, he eventually mustered a full fighting force. He launched an attack against Robotnik's base in the Metropolis Zone''Sonic the Comic'' #79, "Revolution, Part 1" while secondary forces simultaneously attacked other zones, including the Aquatic Ruin Zone''Sonic the Comic'' #79, "Grounded" and the Casino Night Zone.''Sonic the Comic'' #80, "Fleabyte Returns" . Art by Nigel Kitching.]] The conflict was brutal, leaving the Metropolis Zone half-wrecked and with Brutus swiftly beating both the Freedom Fighters and Robotnik's forces, even breaking into Citadel Robotnik and revealing that the self-destruct program Robotnik had implanted in him (as he did with the Brotherhood of Metallix''Sonic the Comic'' #72, "The Return of Chaotix, Part 6") had long ago been excised. Even fighting together, Sonic and Shortfuse the Cybernik proved no match for him, and to complete his victory Brutus had Sonic's friends Johnny and Amy Rose converted into badniks for a short time.''Sonic the Comic'' #80, "Revolution, Part 2" Eventually Brutus clashed with Robotnik himself, wearing an armoured combat suit.''Sonic the Comic'' #81, "Revolution, Part 3" In the end, Robotnik claimed victory against his mental twin by dousing Brutus in liquid nitrogen and shattering his frozen body with a single punch. Robotnik swiftly took control of Brutus' Badnik army and made a planet-wide broadcast to Mobius, proclaiming that this only confirmed that nobody could ever defeat him.''Sonic the Comic'' #82, "Revolution, Part 4" Resurrection When Robotnik absorbed the power of the Chaos Emeralds and became all-powerful, he resurrected several of Sonic's old enemies, including Brutus. In particular, Sonic identified Brutus as "a figure I'd hoped never to see again!" However, Sonic was able to defeat them by knocking Brutus into an energy-based being known as Plasma. The impact with Brutus disrupted Plasma's electrical make-up and triggered a chain reaction that destroyed the other villains.''Sonic the Comic'' #130, "Showdown, Part 1" Powers and abilities Commander Brutus' skills made him a highly formidable opponent for Sonic and his friends to fight. Thanks to the invulnerable nature of his Megatal armour, Brutus was super-humanly strong and highly resistant to physical damage. Equipped with an anti-gravity device, Brutus was also capable of flight at great speed. When his hand was destroyed in battle with Super Sonic, he repaired it with a replacement part that doubled as a powerful laser gun. He was also capable of viewing the infrared spectrum and seeing through solid objects. Gifted with a full copy of Dr. Robotnik's brainwaves and thought patterns, Brutus was also a devious and cunning foe who frequently outsmarted his enemies. When he copied Grimer's brainwaves as well, he gained the ability to build an entire army of loyal robots. Trivia *Brutus was created by Lew Stringer. While he first appeared in a story drawn by Richard Elson, the visual design for Brutus had been done by Lew and the original sketch is available online. In his accompanying notes to the editor, Deborah Tate, Lew said he envisaged Brutus as a Roman centurion or Doctor Doom type character, with a helmet resembling a crown and armour to indicate his superiority over other Trooperss. *Brutus is named after Brutus, an Ancient Roman politician best known for betraying his close friend Julius Caesar and aiding in his assassination. *It is interesting to note that Brutus is one of the few foes that Sonic has never actually been able to defeat. In every battle with him, Sonic has been outmatched by Brutus and had to resort to becoming Super Sonic to defeat him the first time around, and it was Robotnik himself who finally finished him off. References Category:Sonic the Hedgehog characters Category:Robot supervillains Category:Fictional robots Category:Fictional henchmen Category:Fictional dictators Category:Fictional commanders Category:Fictional amputees Category:Fictional deceased Category:Fictional characters who have vision powers Category:Fictional characters with superhuman strength Category:Fictional characters who can move at superhuman speeds Category:Fictional characters who can fly Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1995